


Never Good Enough

by Flames_and_Jade



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Children, Luke Loves Children, Missing Scene, not all parents are kind
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-15
Updated: 2016-07-15
Packaged: 2018-07-24 02:51:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7490394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flames_and_Jade/pseuds/Flames_and_Jade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thinking about the injustices that sweep the galaxy, Luke is given the chance to change a single life for the better.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Never Good Enough

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Marvel_Junkiee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marvel_Junkiee/gifts).



> This story came to me late last night, and I was up entirely too late writing! It comes out of my life (though unfortunately there were no blond Jedi growing up, and from watching my sister work through our childhood. I wanted to see Luke not as the Hero who Saved the Galaxy, but instead simply as a compassionate human being. Not to soapbox to much, but our world needs more people willing to see something wrong, and then do something. It was partially inspired by the two quotes which proceed the story. **NOTE: This story discusses topics that may be difficult to read for some, specifically the realities of child abuse. If this will in any way bother you, please don't read further.**

_"I support a Luke Skywalker who loves too easily. I support a Luke Skywalker who can be amazingly gentle. Who is kind and soft-hearted, but can be as stern, deadly, and dangerous. A Luke who becomes enraged by abuse, sexisim, racisim, and speciesism.” ~ Tumblr_  
  
_“Of all the horrid ramifications of child abuse, the self-beliefs formed by the child reap the greatest destruction. Abuse is the most penetrating and permanent communication possible, and it always conveys to the child one or more of several messages: ‘I caused it to happen. It’s my fault because I am bad. I don’t deserve any better.” ~ Hayward Bruce Ewart III_  


 

**~//~**

 

Hood raised, more against the cold than for the anonymity, Luke Skywalker headed down the steps of the governmental building and towards the pedestrian walkway. He could have caught an airspeeder, but had decided against it. The walk home wouldn’t take more then twenty minutes, and the brisk Coruscant fall air was just the right temperature to be invigorating as long as you weren’t standing still.  
  
His mind drifted over the meeting he had just left, and wondered for what seemed like the millionth time why beings just couldn’t  _get along_. The pettiness of some of the squabbles seemed so ridiculous in the face of some of the injustices that pervaded the galaxy. He sighed, and looked out at the darkening night sky, searching for calmness in himself. Mara had left the meeting early, claiming a slight situation had arisen, but he had felt the fury in her as she left. He knew that there was no emergency, her patience had simply run out. If he didn’t bring the calm home with him, there would be none to be found tonight.  
  
Simultaneously, two pieces of information caused him to stop, mid-step. The first was a ripple of sadness so bleak, so hopeless, it seemed to stab right into his heart like a spear of ice. The second was a sound—a sob that was obviously trying to be stifled—from the alley he was passing by.   
  
Stepping cautiously into the shadows, his hand automatically slid downwards to his lightsaber. But as he stretched out with his senses, he realized the foolishness of such an action and chided himself quietly for overreacting when the source came into view.  
  
Huddled in a doorway that had long ago been boarded and sealed, a girl’s brown eyes met his. They were wide with fear and surprise, but something else floated in their depths. Something that he had seen on a hundred soldiers, marked by the scars of war inside and out. It was the look of a medic who had just lost their patient, of a peacekeeper who arrived moments too late.   
  
It was weariness brought on by too much pain.  
  
Hands spread in front of him, open and unthreatening, Luke crouched down in front of the child. She could not have been more then nine or ten, slender almost to the point of emaciation but not quite, with pale skin and brown hair. Her eyes remained on him, and he could feel the way she was afraid…but not of him. He realized the fear was over something recent, something left behind.  
  
“Hello.” He spoke softly, a faint smile on his lips. “My name is Luke. I thought I heard you crying.” It was a statement, not a question. “What’s your name?”  
  
“Serenne."  
  
“That’s a beautiful name.” He held out a hand. “Would you like to come sit on the bench with me Serenne, and tell me what’s wrong? Maybe I can help you?” Vigorously, she shook her head.   
  
“No. I…I can’t. Nobody can see me.” Her fingers curled around the boards over the door, as if she was preparing for him to pull her out of her hiding place.  
  
“Okay, okay.” Luke settled down on his knees, giving her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. “We can stay here. Will you tell me what’s wrong?”   
  
Her eyes lowered, and he caught flashes of pain, of confusion, of heartbreak. The emotions were so strong, they arced out from her like mud thrown from a turning wheel. She bit her lip, and he saw tears well up in her eyes. “I’m not supposed to tell anyone.”   
  
Sadness trickled into his heart at the fear in her eyes. He reached out and settled his hand over hers. She turned her palm over and took it, squeezing hard. “I promise I won’t tell anyone unless you want me to, okay?”  
  
Brown eyes met his, and he realized they were not only one color. A wreath of green circled the pupil, spreading out into brown as it went towards the edge of the iris.  _Hazel eyes_  he realized, a rarer shade here in the core. Her gaze stayed on his for a few seconds after his rumination ended, and then she nodded. “My mommy. She…” The girl swallowed, and began to pick at the hem of her dress. “She said I was bad, for dropping the bowl. I didn’t mean to! It was heavy and hot and it was hurting my hands. I held onto it for as long as I could but then it just slipped…and she hit me, and yelled and said she hated me.” She began to cry again and Luke, praying to the universe’s gods that she wouldn't be frightened, wrapped his arms around her. She melted into him, great sobs wracking her body as she cried. He used a slight push with the Force to erect a sort of barrier at the mouth of the alley, so no passers-by would see the strange sight, or worse think something inappropriate. A darker thought entered his mind, and he hoped that it would be enough to keep out anyone who was trying to find the child with ill intentions.   
  
Murmuring soothing noises, he stroked her hair as she began to to quiet, and when she pulled away he used the hem of his cloak to wipe her face dry. She gave him a small smile that warmed his heart more then the light of a thousand suns, but then she winced. He realized, under the grime and tears that coated her face was a rapidly-purpling bruise around her right eye.   
  
“What happened to your eye?” The smile faded, and her lip trembled. Uncertainty and fear began to trickle back onto her face, and he hurried to reassure her. “It’s alright, you can tell me. I won’t let anyone else hurt you.”   
  
Questioning eyes met his, and he was struck again by the  _age_  that seemed to haunt her gaze. Her eyes were old, tired…worn out, a heartbreaking juxtaposition to her youthful face. He resisted the urge to calm her with the Force, sensing that the choice to answer had to be her own.   
  
“My mommy. She…got mad. She didn’t mean it.”   
  
Luke’s heart broke as she answered. “Has she ever done something like this before?”  
  
Again the old eyes met his, and measured him. Luke felt a strange feeling of inadequacy, of unworthiness as she weighed his worthiness for her trust. Like she was debating if  _he_  was just another grown-up who would hurt her, or if he was different.   
  
“You promise you won’t tell my mommy I told you?” He shook his head.   
  
“I promise.”   
  
Her fingers resumed playing, now with the hem of his cloak. “She does it whenever I’m bad. Or when she drinks a lot of juice. I don’t know why her juice makes her angry at me, but it does. I try so hard to be good, to tell her how much I love her…but it doesn’t matter.” Her shoulders sagged. “I’m never good enough.”  
  
He felt like his heart had fallen down and taken residence in his toes. “Oh Serenne, you  _are_  good enough. I promise you are.” He tucked a lock of hair back behind her ear. “Do you have any brothers or sisters? Or a father?” She shook her head, and he considered his choices. He could have her take him to her home, and confront her mother. He could take her to the Children’s Services Center…but then he realized it could not be his choice. This choice, above all, must be her own.  
  
“Serenne, I am so sorry that this happened to you. Please listen very closely, okay?” He put his finger gently under her chin, tilting her head up until she met his gaze. “It is wrong that your mommy hurt you. You don’t deserve that at all, and I don’t want that to happen to you ever again. Would you like me to take you someplace where your mommy won’t find you, and nobody will hit you anymore?”   
  
Soft hazel eyes met his own, and he saw hope in them for the first time. “Will I get in trouble?”  
  
“No, sweetheart. I promise, I won’t let anyone get you in trouble for going there.”  
  
For a long moment, she considered him. He could sense her weighing his words, and again he felt the strange feeling of unworthiness. But finally, she sighed gently, and smiled at him. “Okay.”  
  
Rising, he took her hand and led her from the alley. She clung to him, fear making her small form tremble, so he swept her up. Light as a feather, she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in them. He carried her back to the governmental building and to the Children’s Services Center. Setting her down in a chair, he convinced her to stay seated while he talked to the female Bothan behind the desk. Speaking in low tones, he relayed the story to her, and she gave him a sad smile as she moved over to Serenne.   
  
“Hello honey.” Her voice was high but soothing. “My name is Copi. I’m so sorry that you were hurt, would you like to come with me? I’ll see about finding you somewhere to stay with people who won’t hurt you.”   
  
Serenne looked up at Luke. “Can I stay with you?”   
  
Shaking his head sadly, he sat next to her and took her hand. “I wish you could, but it doesn’t work that way. I’m not the right person to take care of you. But Copi is very good at finding the perfect people to take care of you. They’ll love you and nobody will hurt you anymore.”   
  
The green in her eyes seemed to darken as they filled with tears, and her lip began to tremble. “But what if they do? What if they’re mean?”   
  
For a moment, his heart was gripped with the impulsive desire to do just what she asked and take him home with him—she wouldn’t be in the way, he had more than enough credits to take care of her…but then the pragmatic part of his mind chided him for his idealism. He and Mara were almost never even  _at_  their apartment, much less at the same time. That would be no way for a child to live.   
  
Pulling his comlink from his pocket, he tapped a few keys and reset its memory. In the empty log, he typed in his own code and handed it to her. “You keep this. My code is right here, see?” He showed her the screen. “If anyone ever tries to hurt you, you call me and I’ll come help you, okay?” She nodded solemnly, taking the comlink in her small hand. He smiled, heart still aching sympathetically with the pain in her own, and pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head. “But I don’t think that will happen. I think you’re going to be safe, and happy.”   
  
Looking up at Copi he rose, moving close so he could speak without Serenne hearing. “Please let me know if there’s anything I can do, or if you have a hard time finding someone for her.” The Bothan nodded.  
  
“Of course.”  
  
Looking down at his hand still firmly in the girl’s grasp, he smiled at her as brightly as he could. “It’ll be alight, Serenne, I promise. Go with Copi now?”  
  
She looked at their clasped hands for a moment, then sighed as she released it. Standing, she took the Bothan’s outstretched hand and they began to walk away. Just before they turned the corner she stopped, turned and ran back to him. Bending down, he hugged her tightly, feeling the fragile bones and the fluttering of her heart. She pressed a kiss to his cheek, and whispered  _thank you._    
  
  
Then she went back to Copi and they walked away, not looking back.


End file.
